The crew is growing and I’m excited for Max that he won’t be the lone kid around here anymore.
“Dude, she loves it. It’s wild to me that just six months ago, she thought she wouldn’t be good at it. She’s a natural, and every time I see her with Max, I get hit with the craziest baby fever.” I shake my head. “I want to knock her up so badly.”
“Yes,” Zanders agrees. “Watching Stevie be a mom over the past four months is seriously one of the most attractive things I’ve ever witnessed.”
We both turn towards Ryan, who is attempting to suppress his smile. He’s going to understand how we feel real soon because they just found out Indy is pregnant.
He nudges me. “When are you and Miller going to have another?”
“I’m ready, but she’s so busy with work and everything that we agreed we’d try once I officially retire.”
“Stay-at-home dad.” Zanders nods in approval. “Sounds amazing.”
“I can’t wait.”
The truth is, in theory Miller and I are going to wait, but we aren’t doing much to prevent it from happening now either. So, if we get hit with a surprise pregnancy, it won’t be much of a surprise at all. And there isn’t a person on the planet who could change my mind. I will be retiring once baby number two is here.
A bit of noise comes from inside the house, and I turn to find my entire team finally here to join the party.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell my friends. “I need to go check on my brother.”
I welcome my teammates, pointing them in the direction of the food and drinks, before I make my way to the front entryway where Cody, Travis, and Isaiah seem to be having a private conversation.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my tone suspicious. “And why are you guys so late?”
The three of them look to each other, silently communicating.
“Your brother is an idiot,” Travis finally says.
“Trav, what the hell?” Isaiah shoots him a warning glance. “We agreed not to say anything today.”
Travis simply shrugs.
“I don’t know,” Cody cuts in. “I think the whole thing is romantic.”
“It’s not romantic,” Travis corrects. “It was a drunken mistake. A very dumb, drunken mistake.”
Confused, my attention bounces between all three of them. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”
Travis looks right at my brother. “Just tell him.”
Isaiah plasters on a smile that is so forced, it’s clear he’s trying to convince me I shouldn’t be mad at him.
Then he holds up his left hand so I can see the wedding band living on his ring finger.
“What the fuck is that?”
“It’s a wedding ring because . . . surprise! I got married!”
“You what?”
“Got hitched. Tied the knot. Took the plunge.”
“I understand what it means to get married, Isaiah, but who the fuck did you get married to?”
“Oh, I love this part!” Cody pipes up.
Isaiah’s smile is equal parts sheepish as it is thrilled. “Kennedy.”
“Kennedy?” I ask in disbelief. “Kennedy Kay?”
“Kennedy Rhodes as of last night, but yes.”
“But she . . .” I stutter. “She hates you.”
“Well, you see about that. Turns out, after about eight shots of tequila, she doesn’t hate me all that much.”
I look back to the other guys, waiting for someone to tell me this is one big joke, one of their stupid pranks they like to pull.
It’s evident by their expressions, it’s not a prank.
“Wait, what? You’re telling me Kennedy went to Vegas with you guys? She never goes out with the team.”
“She was there for a different reason. We ran into each other on the strip.”
“And you got married?”
“Yeah, we were both a little surprised over that part when we woke up this morning too.”
“Kennedy will lose her job over this.”
Isaiah quickly shakes his head. “She won’t.”
“You need to get this annulled and just pray that team management doesn’t find out about this, because if they do, I can promise one of you is getting fired and we all know that someone isn’t going to be you.” I shake my head in disbelief. “I assume she’s not coming to the party anymore.”
“Probably not.”
“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable,” Cody laughs. “That Kennedy married you or that Dean fucking Cartwright is now your brother-in-law.”